Scenario Let’s imagine that you are 35 years old and you have just inherited $50,000. You wonder whether it makes sense to contribute to your RRSP, your TFSA, or whether you should open a non-registered account and invest the money there. You live in Ontario and your...
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The bucket strategy divides your investment assets into three categories. The Immediate or Short-Term Bucket This bucket covers a period lasting between two to five years. Money in this category is typically held in savings accounts, Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs), and Short-Term Fixed-Income (Bond) Funds. Assets in...
Read MoreIf you have a spouse and/or children, in other words, someone who is dependent on you, life insurance of some sort is an important consideration. Your dependants “depend” on your monetary contribution to the household. A monetary contribution includes income from employment or self-employment, but...
Read MoreYou have had it. You cannot stand even one more winter of shovelling snow or fearing the loss of your fingers and toes from frostbite. You are going to retire to Panama, or Malaysia, or Portugal, or… There are lots of lists on the internet...
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Bringing a new baby into your home is an exciting but anxiety-inducing time. There is so much change, especially if it is the first baby. There are also lots of financial implications. In retrospect, I’m not sure how we managed to accomplish it when we...
Read MoreInterest Rates and Borrowing, Including Mortgages In the last several months, we have begun to see home sales decrease and prices drop, largely due to an increase in interest rates. If you are planning to borrow money, whether for a mortgage or other purposes, this increase...
Read MoreYou are looking for someone who can provide you with professional financial advice. Where do you begin? Perhaps you search the internet for investment advice. A list immediately comes up with several advisors from one of the major bank-owned investment firms. A common designation among...
Read MoreYou may have seen an article published on April 29 by CBC about “angry and frustrated” teachers who find themselves in the unfortunate position of having their tax refunds delayed. This is because the Eligible Educator School Supply Tax Credit that many teachers had claimed...
Read More“Don’t even think about it.” That’s what I would like to say to anybody who is drawn to these funds due to their prodigious tax-saving opportunities. When I was working at a discount brokerage, there seemed to be regular inquiries about these products from people who...
Read MoreI will admit to a bit of a love-hate relationship with life insurance. On the one hand, insurance is almost always appropriate to buy at some time in your life. On the other hand, as someone with a chronic health condition, kidney disease, I couldn’t...
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